1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains, in general, to automata, and in particular, to an automatic machine for vending individual portions of hot food, such as sandwiches, potatoes, soups or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid growth of the fast food industry in this country has not completely satisfied a demand for readily-accessible, round-the-clock sources of fast, hot food, particularly in remote locations or where the demand or space available does not warrant a manned kitchen. So-called "Automats" have not filled this void either because, despite their semi-automatic nature, they are still relatively labor-intensive.
Neither has the vending machine industry completely satisfied the need for ready access to hot, fast food. One known example of an effort to fill this gap by the vending industry is the infrequently-seen vendor of preheated, canned products, such as soup, chili, etc. The limitations of this machine are that the product is confined to canned commodities and lacks the potential freshness capability of a machine purveying a freshly prepared, flash-frozen product.
Another example of prior efforts are those machines which vend refrigerated sandwiches and the like, which products must then be manually heated or cooked by the patron in associated, but independent, heating apparatus, e.g., a microwave range.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automatic hot food vending machine capable of storing an inventory of individualized portions of freshly-prepared, flash-refrigerated or frozen food, and for quickly heating or cooking at least one of those portions and vending it to a patron on a completely automatic basis.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a machine that is relatively inexpensive to fabricate and assemble, yet which achieves a high degree of reliability in the field.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a machine which is easily maintained and may be tended in relatively large numbers by a single tender.